10, THE 3IORXIXG OTtEGOXIAX, TUESDAY, 3fAT 1020 ittormnjj rmrian JSTABUSHED BV HENRI L. rlTTOCK. iTubllehed by The Oreponlan Publishing Co.. ' 135 Sixth Street. Portland. Oregon. ,.'P. A. MORDEX. E. B. PIPER, i, . Manager. Editor. The Oresonian la a member of the Asso ciated Press. The Associated yPresa Is ..exclusively entitled to the use for publica tion of all news dispatches credited to It r.r not otherwise credited In this paper and ;.also the local news published herein. AM .. rights or republication of special dispatches "Tterein are also reserved. ' Subscription, Rates Inrarlably la Advance. (By Mail.) i rallr. Sunday Included, one year ? -5? ,tXaily, Sunday included, six months .. "TJaily, Sunday Included, three months, pally, Sunday included, one month . i7l5aiiy, without Sunday, one year .Ia.ily. without Sunday, six months ... nriiy, without Sunday, one month. .. . IVeekly, one year Sunday, one year (By Carrier.) "Taily. SunAlr Included, one year . . . . 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', The two important commodities Ernest prominent in the public eye tbecause of the record prices they ow command are sugar and pota "Vors, but they occupy widely differ ent positions in their relation to the Ufood problem. It probably is true that potato prices are to a large extent legitimately influenced by the '"'law of supply and demand. There l-re signs, indeed, that total stocks of "the tubers at present in existence are '-!fr below normal for this time of the year. Z ; , There is therefore the choice be ftween going ahead and using them Slavishly, wasting a good portion as is our wont, at the old rrices, and cur tailing consumption, through high r prices, to the point where all will be impelled to check waste and -: many forced to go without. The latter will meanwhile extract such comforts as is possible under the cir cumstances from "the reflection that until Queen Elizabeth's time pota toes were not eaten by civilized men and that for a hundred and fifty years after that the potato was practically unknown to the masses. It was not mentioned in works on agriculture as late as 1720. and people' contrived very well to get along with a potatoless bill of fare. But although sugar has a some what similar 'history as a popular commodity, having been chiefly, and then in the form of raw cane, a curi osity in the time of the same Queen Elizabeth, it has entered so largely into the processes of preserving other desirable foods for future use that Its ascension to a practically prohibitive price attains the propor tions of a national calamity. It- is not alone the taste of sugar In its simple form of which we are de prived, but also the vehicle for the exercise of one of the highest forms of waste nrevention. There is a seasonal example of this in rhubarb. or pie plant, a highly desirable ar ticle in the diet because of the min eral salts that it contains. Rhubarb ordinarily Is easy to grow and is relatively cheap. Thrifty housewives not only serve It on their tables in tile spring but can it in quantity. It Requires, however, a good deal of sugar to make it palatable and at present prices of sugar rhubarb is being used only sparingly in its fresh state and is not being canned at all JJt is difficult to gee. indeed, what 4s going to become-of the home can ning industry unless sugar - goes -Jown, 6r what will come to pass . In the fruit-growing industry in gen- eral. If we are to be restricted td --eating each fruit in its season only, there will inevitably be vast curtail ment of an important food supply, just at the time when we can least afford to waste a single thing that ""Tvas made to eat. Commercial can- -ning, notwithstanding its great growth in the past decade, repre ,:. sents less a process of turning to ac - .count commodities that otherwise would be wasted than does the can - ning that is going on in millions of .Jhomes. These -absorb the greater part of the fruits that decline in .5 iprica when the market for immedi- '.ate consumption becomes glutted. tWith the home canners no longer buying fruit because they cannot af- ford to use sugar in preserving it, Z millions of pounds of small fruits J and berries will, rot in their con- tainers, if they are picked at all. There are. it is true, other ways of" preserving fruit. Drying is one i method, which does not, however, lend itself readily to home economy I on a. small scale, and preserving J- without sugar . is another, but the latter also has serious drawbacks in the hands of the inexperienced. rOur ii-hole domestic system of fruit-can- ning revolves around the sugar sup- ply. It is impracticable to revolu f J-'pnize it in time for the forthcoming Ifjjrop. The wholajbusiness is threat jawed by the present and prospective status of the sugar market. !!The Issue will be important from ;;2Ke time that June strawberries ap ;1ar until the last October peach is JJjrot away in its glass jar. Sorrow-Jf-uily enough, housewives are al .ieady beginning to. revise their sum i 'mer canning programme. The im Iportant fact that every jar of fruit "CIuat is not put up this year probably J twiU represent the equivalent amount ; .that will be absolutely wasted will give a iunp to -tne .interest that all - Americans are taking in the an nouncement made a few days ago I that Attorney General-Palmer had instituted inquiry to determine whether the advance in sugar prices is the result of criminal conspiracy. v The potato famine means nothing ', - but disappearance of the potato from the menu; sugar at thirty cents a " pound carries down with it the sur- -plus product of every orchard in the -land. -'further extension of war inven tions to peace uses is reflected by the United States bureau of fisher ies in its announcement that an ar rangement has been perfected be V tween the bureau and the aviation service of the navy by which naval ; 'seaplanes will be utilized for spot- ; ting and reporting schools of fish for the benefit of fishermen. Ves ; sels of the fishing . fleet are to be eq-ulpped with radio instruments and seaplanes will use the latest type of communication developed for theiful Balkan confederation, which -will purpose of locating: and reporting want an outlet on the Adriatic sea submarines during: the war. Experts j for all its members. Greece will ba believe that there is no practical jealous of Italy's possession of Av- reason why the scheme should notiona and of her protectorate over succeed, and, with the element of. Albania, and will want eaual power chance largely eliminated from the fishing industry, there ought to be art immense increase in our annual catch. It is pointed out that there is no danger of exhausting tha sup ply of food in this manner, since the depths of the sea contain in all probability so vast a supply that hu man efforts would be unlikely to deplete it But Americans are not a fish-eating people, and there Is some prospect that more fish will be caught than the market can ab sorb. . ACADEM1C. A favorite argument of the anti capital punishment cult is that there were fifty-nine murders committed in Oregon in the five years preceding abolition of the death penalty, and in the five years following there were but thirty-six murders. Those figures are interesting, if true. Who knows if they are true? What authority has been keeping the homicide record in the state? But let us suppose that the statis tics are authentic. It follows then that murder flourishes most and best when the punishment is most severe, and diminishes when it is milder. Probably the murderer mur ders in sheer resentment at the threat of the gallows, and probably he ceases to ply his wicked pursuit when he has only a term in prison to fear.- It is queer logic if it is logic. But it is not logic. It is non sense. It would be more pertinent to the great need of the times if the investi gators who have been tracing the Story of Oregon murders for ten years would let us know how many of the fifty-nine were convicted and were hanged and how many of - the thirty-six were convicted and are now in prison. The real reproach to our judicial system is not that -men are hanged for murder, but that they are set frt;e and neither hanged nor sent to prison. The question of capital pun ishment is almost entirely academic. There is no such thing, except on the rarest occasions. A I.n.L IX SHIPBUILDING. The peak of American shipbuild ing for private account is at hand, according to a bulletin from the At lantic Coast Shipbuilders' associa tion. This is the inference from the small volume of new orders in March as compared with October. The bulk of new construction is tankers. which show an increase of 130,000 gross tons in March over February, while freighters show a decrease of nearly 60,000 tons. Owing to the great demand for oil all over the world, and probably to the increased number of oil-burning ships, 104 tankers of 722,000 gross tons were imder construction at the end of March. These facts hardly justify belief that American shipbuilding is to ex perience a decline as sudden as its rise. Cost is high, freights tend downward and the general business outlook is - uncertain. The emer gency fleet is yet to be sold, no man can foretell when or at what prices. These conditions do not encourage shipping men to contract for new tonnage. All are waiting to see which way the cat will jump before as suming heavy obligations. But world tonnage has only about recovered the actual loss during the war. It still has to make up the normal increase which should have been built during five years. Many ships were so overworked and neg lected that they must have expensive repairs or be junked. When the world does settle down to work, so many nations will have great defi ciencies to make up in the way. of necessaries that the ocean-carrying business should be very active for a few,years.- A lull is at' hand in ship building, but it should be followed by renewed activity, which may con tinue Indefinitely. nOIE AS A Bl'FFER STATE. Acceptance by Italy and Jugo Slavia of President Wilson's plan for settlement of the Fiume dispute j is a diplomatic success for the pres- ident. It prevents Slavs from be ing put under Italian rule, Italians from being put under Slav rule, and it blocks the scheme to compensate Jugo-Slavia . for the loss of Flume by giving it Scutari, which would have been taken from Albania.. The principle of self-determination is thus followed In the sense that the people of the Fiume state are not to be under alien rule, but the Ital ians are denied union with Italy which they desired, and the Slavs are denied union with Jugo-Slavia, which they desired. The only sat isfaction gained by either party is that the other does not get the prize. - If the history of the state of Fiume should resemble that of other buf fer states its lot will not be a happy one. The purpose of a buffer state is to keep apart two nations which cherish such bitter enmity that each is likely at any moment to leap' at the other. But the nations in ques tion regard the buffer as something to be smashed in order that they may get at each other, and they smash it. That is what Germany did to Belgium, and it took the power of half the world to break the German grip. Belgium has re fused to be a buffer again, has re jected its former neutral status and has asserted its full sovereign right to make any alliance it pleases. When Russia and Prussia became great powers Poland sank to the status of a buffer state, and they removed it by dividing it between them and with Austria. A small state would betler take the risk of alliance with one or other of its big neighbors than, to be a stand ing invitation to invasion by the more aggressive of them. Flume will be in a worse position for it will be between two nations. each or which claims it as right fully its own. There will doubtless be Italian and Slav parties, which will keep the racial fued to the front and will agitate for annexation to Italy or Jugo-Slavia. The pros pect is that there will be constant agitation and propaganda. As col onizing is an old game, practiced when Hungary had control, it may be practiced again in order to cre ate a majority for annexation to one country or the other. Each nation will be anxious to remove the buffer by absorbing it. Jugo-Slavia is no match for Italy at present, but it may become a member of a power. on the Adriatic. Roumania may tire of having frontage on the Black sea only and may help the Jugo slavs in exchange for maritime rights on the Adriatic. Fiume's troubles are not ended, for it has still to dispose of D'Annunzio, the mad poet. Its trou bles may have just begun, for it will be an object of contention at the meeting point of two rival nations. It is reduced to the position of Berwick on Tweed, which was al ternately English and Scotch for hundreds of years and ended by be ing neither, for It is separately named in royal proclamations as "our royal borough of Berwick, on Tweed." Peace reigns there, for England and Scotland have become in effect one nation, but there is no possibility of such a merger be tween Italy ,and Jugo-Slavia. .ALL'S FAIR ITS' POLITICS? In some of the Oregon newspapers there was published in 'April, on au thority of the Hiram Johnson cam paign, an advertisement containing this suggestion "If the voter now registered as 'democrat,' 'prohibitionist' or 'inde pendent' wants to be sure of his rights to cast a ballot for Johnson he should change his party affilia tion to 'republican' by April 20." Here we have an illustration of the Johnson idea of party integrity and the square deal. Political party clothes are donned to be shucked for any passing reason or fancy. Nomination as a republican may be sought openly from others than re publicans. In the state of California, re formed and purified, so we are led to believe, by the almost unaided personal efforts of Mr. Johnson when governor, the voter registered as a democrat or a prohibitionist or indepeirdent need not go to the humiliating trouble of pretending that he has changed his political mind if he desires to vote for a can didate on some other ticket than his own. The democrat or prohibition ist or independent in California may ask for a republican ballot at the polling booth, and get it and vote it without question. But in Oregon we have'' aimed at a different kind of political ethics. The voter is required to state his party affiliation, if any, at the time he registers, and he is also required to make oath to the statement that he has registered as a member of that party in good faith. It is fur thermore provided that any voter who falsely swears to any affidavit required by the act shall be deemed guilty of perjury and be punished accordingly. The f ramers of the law did not de fine as corrupt practices attempts to. induce voters to violate their registration oaths. Perhaps it .was assumed that the general criminal statute relating to subornation of perjury covered it. But it is written into the statutes of Oregon, in the preamble of the direct primary law there placed by vote of the people that "it is as great a wrong to the people, as well as to the members of a political party, for one who Is not known' to be one of its members to vote or take any part at any election or other proceeding of such political party, as it is for one who is not a qualified registered elector to vote at any state election or take any part in the business of the state." The Johnson appeal for an'in vasion of the republican party by members of other parties exhibits a loose regard for the spirit and in tent of Oregon law. DISCUSSION' IS OPES TO COMMUNISTS. Communists seem to advocate rev olution in the United States in des pair of winning by constitutional means or of doing so without an in tolerably long wait, but if they have confidence in the soundness of their principles they should not despair of success by any . means other than bloodshed. The British labor party proposes adoption of communism in substance, but by constitutional agi tat ion it has gained such strength that it has voted down direct action by an immense majority and has de cided on political action as the short est and easiest way to victory. So thoroughly communist is that party that It aims "to secure for tht producers the common ownership of the means of production and control of each industry or service." It de. mands that the supplies of food and other necessaries of life and all pub lic utilities "shall be acquired by the? state and it also demands "national ization of all land." It proposes to "establish democratic control of in dustry, giving every man and woman a share in the control of their daily work . . as well as a voice in the man agement of their affairs as citizens and consumers. It would not permit the individual citizen to have "more than a fair share of the national in come" and proposes "public appro priation of the surplus continually arising above the national minimum' and to "divert all surplus wealth to the service of the community." This i3 as outright communism as that of Russia, but by constant and skillful propaganda the labor party has won recruits in the middle class. It has . won several bye-elections since the general election in Decern. ber, 1918, and in others its candi dates have run a good second to those of the coalition. It is now ree ognized as the second party in strength, and Lloyd George and Churchill have summoned all other parties to combine against it as the champion of bolshevism. Yet they do not question its right to advocate its principles by free speech and a free press. If the communists were to pro mote their theory by lawful means only In this country, the same free dom would not be denied them. They could talk, write and print commun ism without restraint, and no officer of the law would Interfere with them. The law's quarrel is not with .their principles but with the means which they propose for putting those principles in effect. Communism is probably opposed by 99 per cent of the American people, but they would not forbid any person to advocate it; they only refuse to permit resort to force in imposing it on them against the will of the majority, or to per mit advocacy of force. While communists protest that the rights of free speech and free press are violated, they ignore the distinc tion between advocacy of their prin ciples and advocacy of revolutionary means to put those principles into j effect. They lead their opponents also to ignore that distinction. The result is that any communist is re garded as a revolutionist and that communists forfeit rights which they might enjoy without hindrance if they would confine themselves to constitutional means. The American people have no fear of open discussion of the compara tive merits of democracy and com munism, for the latter theory is so fundamentally unsound that there is no danger of its acceptance by so intelligent, educated a people as the Americans. It has been imposed by force only on Russia, which is two thirds illiterate and has been thrown off its mental balance by oppression, war, revolution and famine. Methods of voting in the British labor unions make their ballots no true indication of opinion, but spread of communism in Britain has been aided by class divisions, which are sharpened by class ownership of land and by the power of the labor unions and the ambition of their leaders. Spread of that theory has also been, hastened by the war, the revolution and the prevailing distress in Europe. The British people are so well grounded in devotion to personal liberty that they do not fear open debate- with the communist. Americans, whose republic is founded on the same principle, have still less cause for fear. Let the communists stick to democratic methods and they may have unlimited freedom of speech and writing. By rejecting those methods and resorting to revolution. they confess the weakness of theif case. MAKING IT KAST. There is almost no limit to the possibilities suggested by the an nouncement of the federal director of the national park service that work will be begun immediately on installation of an elevator from the floor of the Tosemite valley to the crest of Glacier point. The perpen- icular distance is 3164 feet. Some thing like this feat is achieved by hoists in deep mines, but nothing remotely approaching it exists in any machinery made for lifting men above the surface of the earth. The height of Glacier point, which it is proposed to reach by elevator, above the floor of the valley is nearly six times that of the Washington monu ment; it is a dozen times as great as that of a good many buildings in the skyscraper class. The tendency to make it easy to commune with nature in her loftiest moods is in keeping with the spirit of the times. It is doubtful, on the whole, whether nature study will suffer greatly by being thus made more convenient to larger numbers of people. The notion that moun tain climbing is inspiring only be cause it requires a lot of hard work is out of date. It is true that one is in the main more likely to appre ciate the things he has been com pelled to strive for, but it is also true that the hardships of many ventures are so great as practically to exclude from enjoyment of them all but the hardiest of outdoor sportsmen. The automobile stage and the modern hotel have done much to popularize the scenery of our national parks by making them accessible to mil lions who otherwise would never see them. Relatively few men or women can spare the time nowadays to view the wonders eft nature in the old fashioned ways. Those past middle age are excluded from the' mountain tops by their - physical limitations. For the younger set, the natural- born mazamas of the world, there will always be peaks to climb; It will not detract from their pleasure to have a few wonder spots brought within reach ' by cable and cage, as journeys have been otherwise short ened by railroads to the very gates Spiritual eagerness is wholly com patible with physical inability to toil painfully upward over a rude trail to an altitude of 3164 feet. Vain Is the beauty of the sky, said Wordsworth, unless we have also learned to love it, or words to that effect. But love of nature is not necessarily non-existent in the indi vidual who is compelled by clrcum stances to take a short cut to it. The fight to exclude modern means of transportation from the great parks was founded on the idea that only pedestrians and hardy climbers de served to enjoy grand scenery. The Tosemite park elevator commands attention not only as a striking me chanical accomplishment, but also as a means of bridging the gap between a marvelous nature picture and the many who would otherwise never be able to see it at all. If Chief Flynn of the secret ser vice has any more windows on four teenth floors, he can solve a knotty affair by leaving them to other anarchists and bombth rowers for suicidal purpose. It will be a sav ing of time, trouble and money. When Americans in Mexico are compelled to board American war vessels to assure safety, it is time this nation did more than wire or write to somebody down there about it. That is a real job for the White House, Inc. . In the three states of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee during March 447 illicit stills were seized and de stroyed, thus damaging a profitable industry. "Them revenooers" are mighty industrious. The ex-kaiser is about to move from Amerongen to Doom. Bill seems to have changed his mind per- manently about taking up quarters In Paris. Nineteen preachers turned down offers to take the pastorate of an Albany church. Must figure Albany is so good it doesn't need any pastors, Enough murders are charged to Huirt now and why not release him to the state of Washington, where he has a brisk chance of being hanged? The walkout of the bakers may knock down a long row of bricks. Let us hope the trouble is over be fore the festal days begin. "Maryland, My Maryland!" sang Leonard and Hiram, but not in unison nor in harmony. Too bad General Pershing didn't try kissing 'em In Nebraska before the election. We will venture to guess that the striking bakers are after more dough. BY -PRODUCTS OF THE TIMES It Vaa Chamee That Led Geaeral I PeraktnK Into Soldler'a Life. , "Chance made John Pershing a sol dier, as chance directs the destinies of all great men," remarked Robert A. Hunter of St. Louis. "If it hadn't been for the burglary "of Pershing's home in Laclede, Mo., John Pershing would not have commanded the Amer ican expeditionary forces in France. He would have been a school teacher, perhaps. There were six children in the Pershing family three boys and three girls. "John Pershing received a country school education, and when he was about IS he entered the normal school at Kirksville. It was while he was at Kirksville that the Pershing home I and store were robbed. John's father was away from home at the time and his mother became so nervous over the robbery that she sent for John to come home. He went immediately. "Lounging around the house Persh ing's eye caught an announcement in the paper that there was to be an ex amination for West Point at a town called Trenton, 40 miles away. He told his mother he would like jto go over and find out what a boy had to know to get into West Point. Next day he hitched up a team and drove to Trenton. When he returned he had passed the examination and was ap pointed. It was pure chance. "Had not the store been robbed and his mother frightened int4 send ing for her son, John Pershing never would have seen the announcement of the West Point examination and never would have been a soldier. Pershing once was a section hand on a railroad, and he was a good sec tion hand, I am told." Washington Post. The story of how the order of Elks turned itself into a big brother so ciety for the benefit of the disabled soldiers Is one of the most inspiring narratives that have come out of the war. As told before the house com mittee on education by J. W. Lysons of the war relief commission organ ized by the Elks, it shows a combina tion of sympathy and practical assist ance that deserves to stand as model. Finding itself at the signing of the armistice with unappropriated funds, the commission selected from numerous suggestions for the dlsposi- tlon of this money the plan of aiding in the work of the board for voca tional education. The sum of $100,- 000 was set aside for this purpose, and an additional sum of $200,000 was made available as a revolving fund to be lent to young men In training who were in need of aid. There were many soldiers who" were unable to en ter training because they did not have money for their first month's ex penses. What have be$n the results? Of the total of 26,000 men in training under the vocational board, no fewer than 32,574 have received help from the Elks. The amount loaned to them has reached over $400,000, of which over $200,000 has been repaid. This is the smaller half of the story. What the Elks really gave was some thing rarer and more precious than money human sympathy and persis tent personal effort. This was needed in a special manner. Men had to be persuaded to take up vocational train ing. Some of them had the feeling that the country owed them a living. Some were earning good incomes by selling or even begging on the street- Some were disheartened. In many in stances, representatives of the Elks went before the board and worked to shorten the delay that hung over it like a curse. All these activities re quired tact and patience as well as the will to help. The Elks have given a notable demonstration of true com munal effort. New Tork Evening Post. Gray Gables, the famous summer estate of the late President Cleveland at BuzzaVds Bay, not so far from Woods Hole, has gone back to its original owner, Mrs. Tudor, from whom Mr. Cleveland purchased it many years ago," said "Willie" Jef ferson, son of the late Joseph Jeffer son, who was America's greatest com edian. Mr. Jefferson gained consider able fame about 15 years ago when he stepped in one night when the elder Jefferson was taken sick and played the part of Bob v Acres in . Sheridan' "The Rivals." "Willie" made some- ) thing of a hit sin the part, and from that time on he took up his father's work every season after the latter had played for a few weeks each spring. He continued to play "The Rivals" for seven years. "My father and President Cleveland were close friends, as I presume most persons know," continued Mr. Jeffer son. "Cleveland spent a year and a half at our home on Buzzards Bay be- fore he purchased Gray Gables, and he also was for several months at the Florida plantation. Whenever they got together they didn't wait to con sider what they would do, but the president and. father would pick up their fishing tackle and start for some fishing ground. It didn't mat ter where it might be; all they wanted was the pleasure of casting a line. They would fish for days, and some times wouldn't get any, but 'that didn't matter if they could, talk and smoe. vvasmngion rosu It may be that the great and con - stant gamble with bugs, weather and markets la on. of the thine that , , . . ... , makes farming so fascinating. Ths general public, does not realize that agriculture Is Just about as certain as speculating in oil stocks. Observe these facts and doubt the statement if you can: One day of unusual heat at the critical time may reduce the yield of an oat field 25 per cent. " A few hours of rain can half ruin a crop of wheat. Potato yield may be reduced from 23 to SO per cent by a short dry spell. One cold rain can ruin an apple crop. One hot, muggy day may entirely spoil a crop of beans. And to these features must be add ed the fact that countless insects are at constant war with the farmer and that, after he has brought his crop through all these dangers, he has practically nothing to say about the prices he gets. The Nation's " Busi ness. It casts a light on Russian affairs to knov that there is no word for "effi ciency" in the Russian language. Al though some nations exaggerate the importance of efficiency until It be comes a mania Germany, for ex ample -the lack of the Idea in Rus sian speech is reflected in most Rus sian activities. Kansas City Star. Those Who Come and Go. With 100. 000 tons of TNT the rocky canyon on the Roseburg-Coos bay road is being blasted. M. S. Boss, who is the "Co." of John Hampshire Co.. was in the city yesterday and reported progress of the job. The firm has a 14--mlle section between Camas valley and Remote, the touRh est, worst part of the entire road be tween the Umpqua valley ana ine r-.oast. Two steam shovels are at wor) and there are 150 men in action By June 1 the right-of-way will be cleared and the heavy rock work fin ished and the steam shovels will be spt aitarkiiiF at each end of the job and workinir toward the middle. The I highway through the canyon will have a 20-foot roadbed. bince No- v ember, when the contractors went in. the road has been closed ana tnc stage had to use the old Coos bay military wagon road when the weath er permitted. Today, tor tnc itrsi time this year, the stage will resume operations. Roy Klein, secretary of the etate highway commission, imparted such cood news to J. S. Stewart ot Lor- vallis yesterday that Mr. Stewart, to celebrate, due uo his Panama hat. Mr. Klein says that the commission. at its next meeting, will call for bids for grading and surfacing with ma cadam the seven-mile stretch of highway between Thirty Mile and Mayville. Mr. Stewart has' been pes tering the commission lor months to have this work let. but a shortage of engineers caused a delay. when a rough estimate was made of the prob able cost, and the county's share was more than available. Mr. Stewart passed the hat and raised' $3000 from the ranchers, stockmen and merchants in the section affected. The action of the commission means that the seven bad miles will be in good shape by next winter, if satisfactory bids are received. Mr. Stewart arrivea at me Perkins yesterday. Twenty-seven machines were camping in Roseburg a automobile tourist park one night last week says W. J. Weaver of the Umpqua hotel, who is at the Imperial. "This shows that the tourist travel is al ready moving. Mr. weaver says business is so good that people have to wire for reservations now, and later he doesn't know whether a res ervation will do any good. "And it costs so to build and furnish a hotel now that Los Angeles ' prices would have to he charged to make it pay. says he. "Town south they ask if you want a $10, $15 or $20 a day room Travelers who come to Portland arc tnanKtui mat me noiei rates are so reasonable. They appreciate the Tort land hotel rates after going up against the prices In southern Call fornia." "I live in the east, but think I'll sell and move west, probably some where in Oregon," stated H. J. Ries. who arrived at the Imperial from Long Beach, Cal., yesterday, with his wife and daughter. Inquiry revealed that "east" is Billings, Mont., but out on - the Pacific coast Mr. Ries con aiders himself an easterner, an opin ion which must shock those "west erners" from Chicago and Philadel phia. "The tourists are beginning to leave southern California, says Mr Ries, "but there are still plenty of them left. This is the first winter we have been in California, as for years we have been coming to Ore gon, and like this place. Those who are In the dairy game say that Harry West has brougnt more Jersey cattle to Oregon than any other man. Mr. West, who was in town attending the dairy council yesterday, doesn't do things by halves. He would buy a herd on the Island of Jersey and bring 'em over to the United States. Thirty years ago Lily Langtry did more to ad vertise the island than all of its cows. Miss Langtry is said to have dropped a hunk of ice down the back of the Prince of Wales, but ehe denied the tale when she played in vaudeville in Portland. Andy Greiner, one of the oldest ranchers in Gilliam county. Is In Port land taking a look around. Mr. Greiner4 has a big ranch and runs some eheep. That he has been suc- :essful is attested by tne tact mat Condon Saturday. and gives that town as his residence, although his ranch Is on Mayville flat. Mr. Greiner reports that there was a fall of snow and some rain at Condon Satorday. They don't often come from Biggs, although in a public meeting in Port land a few years ago a man an nounced that anyone could improve his condition by going in any di rection from Biggs. James Riley, at the Imperial, is one of the few who emblazon the name of that place on a hotel register. Biggs people have a kind of hazy notion that maybe the John Day highway may join the Columbia highway at their town. S. Benson; chairman of the state highway commission, is on his way home from California, and was at Medford yesterday, where he was loined with his colleagues on the commission and State Highway Erf- srineer Nunn. The commissioners plan to make a personal inspection or tne Pacific highway northward and will arrive In Portland some time during the week. It is said- that E. M. Brownell of Oakland. Cal.. has the distinction of having sold the first talking machine that was nut on tne marKet. jm Brownell, who Is at the Multnomah, is representing a device which wa used on the N-C hydroplanes when they crossed the Atlantic, the device being something to enable them to keep in direct communication with the warships and the shore during the flight- ..-tr. o,r.tnll.. r.f a cent I for every pound of cheese in adver- 1 Using the Tillamook product." de- clares Carl O. Haberlach, the cheese man. "mat ts wny tne lUiamooK brand Is so well known. A friend " . . , ... met tourist w-ho saii that the only thing he knew I about Oregon was Tillamook cheese. President Welnacht and S. O. Rice of the Mount Angel creamery were Portland visitors yesterday. This creamery is said to be one of the most successful co-operative enter prises of the sort in the Willamette valley. Charles G. Miller, until last week manager of the Marion at Salem, is at the Multnomah while on his way to take charge of the Government Hot Springs, about 15 miles back of Carson Wash. J. H. Van Kleek, who is distin guished among dairymen for present inir Lulu Alphea to the milking world. a champion cow in ita class, was in Portland from Beaverton yesterday. I. J. Woods, a merchant' of Grass Valley, is registered at the Perkins while looking around to see what the wholesale houses have to offer in the way of new supplies. Mr. and Mrs. Walter R. Bilyeu of Albany have been spending the week end in Portland and were quartered at the Multnomah. At home Mr. Bilyeu. is a dentist. C. C. Dickson, who has one of the finest dairy herds in Oregon, located at Shedds. was among tha dairymen in Portland yesterday. JIST LIKE MEXICAX BANDITRY Lrgrat Execution of Murderers en Same Order nm Massacre of Innocents. PORTLAND. May 3. (To the Edi tor:) Genevieve Parkhurst once said "No money which bears the govern ment stamp Is irredeemable. There are no greenbacks, no bills so polluted, so soiled, so tattered that they are not redeemable. So no matter how soiled, how, polluted, how tattered ho may be, no human being who bears the stamp of his maker's image is irredeemable. No man can stoop so low, can be so vile, can be such a criminal, that the divine image in him is effaced. That is inviolable, indestructible. Immortal. God's image cannot be stamped out of his creation and it will be redeemed. It was fortunate that I ran acress that paragraph just at this time. How many readers agree with Genevieve Parkhurst? Offhand. I would venture to say 9J per cent of them agree with her. if that paragraph is left by it self. The question is, how many actually do agree, under circumstances calculated to test the belief? Tha actual test and the answer will come In May, on election day. Because no one can possibly vote for the proposed constitutional aendment to reinstate capital punishment in Oregon and believe In that paragraph above. The bandits in Mexico hang a man or woman or child now and then, through savage instincts. Out news papers tell about it in flaring head lines. We are all worked up about it. Yet we are asked o vote for the same thing in our states. W hat's the difference who does it. the state or the bandits? Results are the same. Soviet Russia has abolished thn death penalty, yet civilized, democratic Ore gon would re-establish it. Are the Russians so far ahead of us? Are we no farther advanced than the Mexican bandits? Those questions will receive your answer when you vote ou the capital punishment amendment in May. Be fore you vote yes, be sure you know why you so vote. Nobody can prove a single benefit society ever derived from the death penalty, but statistics Uo show there are more convictions, justice is more positive, where capital punishment is unknown. MARY BOWMAN MORGAN. IIADICAL TWIST GIVEN SPEECH Dr. Pence Corrects Report of His May Day Address. PORTLAND, May 2. (To the Edi tor.) May I ask a correction of the report made of a portion of my speech on "Americanism" at the auditorium on Saturday night. May 1? I was re ported as saying: "The day is coming, and God speed it when no man having amassed millions of dollars will dare die without making provi sion to hand back those dollars to the community which gave him oppor tunity to make those dollars." What I actually said, and not thus rather freely phrased, was what was in my mind to say, namely, "When no man having amassed millions of dollars will dare die without having made some return to society for the opportunity to make those dollars." I recognize that a man's greatest moral return to society is In the economic going concern, permanent ly established and employing the pro ducing energies of the largest num bers of men which he leaves as the monument of his genius and energies. I referred to the joy a really great man feels In amassing' a surplus extracted, not out of Inadequate wages or Inferior products, but out of his own legitimate earnings from his invested money and brains and because his to give, given out of love for his fellowmen and in gratitude for living. This Is a meaning very different from that which might be drawn from the reported account. My zeal is not that I be corrected, but that no statement in connection with that great occasion on May day should be tortured into an un-American mean ing with an un-American intent. EDWARD H. PENCE. PL.AIN MARY NOT WORLD-BEATER Jersey's Butterfaf Record Exceeded by Two Guernseys. HUBBARD, Or., May 2. (To tha Editor.) In The Oregonian it is stated that "the record for butterfat has swung to 'Plain Mary," a Jersey, to stay until someone brings forth a Holstein to dispute her." This leaves the Impression that Plain Mary's but terfat record is a world's record of all breeds. Allow me to call your attention to two Guernseys who several years ago exceeded this record, viz.: Murne Cowan 19597, who made 1098.18 pounds of butterfat, and May Rilma 22761. who made 1073.41 pounds of butterfat. In this connection I would like to state that Murne Cowan was eight years and nine months old when the year's test began, an age when many of our farmers think a cow has passed her years of use-fulness. But off top of this. Murne Cowan carried a calf 202 days during the 363 days she was on test, a record that to our knowledge has never been equaled by any cow of any other breed. It would be Interest ing to know how many days Plain Mary carried a calf during the year sue was on test. OCTAV VOGET, Secretary Oregon Guernsey Cattle Club. Tribute From St. I, on Is. ST. LOUIS, Mo., April 2fi. (To the Editor.) Please let me add my word of tribute to the memory of Miss Isom. She stood among the foremost of the librarians of the world. Nona had a broader vision than she of what could be accomplished through library service for the furtherance of human happiness and knowledge. No library ranks higher than Port land's in efficiency in method and result. The people seem to feel that it is their library, authority In rules and regulations being reduced to a minimum. But not alone as a librar ian will Miss Isom's memory be cherished. She was a fine example of noble womanhood. Thousands loved and respected her. A letter I received from Tier when the end was nearing showed her to be a woman of transcendent courage. For months past no sign was given of her suffering. - I count her friend ship as one of the great Inspirations of my life. LUTIE E. STEARNS. Troublesome "I fa" for Speculation. ALGOMA. Or., May 1. (To the Editor.) If Ben W. Olcott, secretary of state, ehould resign, to whom would he tender his resignation? If he should resign and appoint a sec retary of state, would not his appoint ee's term of office expire In January, 1921? Suppose then, the governor should become -incapacitated or die In December. 1920, would his ap pointee inherit the governor's office and hold same until 1923? Would not the secretary of state-elect have some claim on the governor's office if the above supposition should hap pen? Wr. O. BINNS. Gee, man, why ask us? We're just a newspaper, not the supreme court. How She Landed Him. London Tit-Bits. He was looking for a chance to pop the question and the girl was not averse. "Did you pay my little broth er to remain out of the parlor?" she asked. "Yes: 1 hope I was not pre suming." "You were not. But if you paid him, I won't." They're engaged now. More Truth Than Poetry. By James J. Mootacae. THE PRICE MAKES A DIFFERENCE Before the first of last July, When all our world was turned to water, A very little cash would buy A most complete and thorough totter. When cops along the avenue Encountered persons with a jag on They laid them by the heels and blew The whistle for the hoose-gow wagon. The jugs were full or shabby cents Who in the gin-mills had invested Some forty-five or fifty cents And subsequently got arrested. We'd never even bat an eye When pickled people crossed our vision. The simple drunk, when he passed by. Excited only our derision. But now that there exists a ban On all the forms of piff lication, We gaze upon a drunken man With reverence and veneration. Two bucks a shot for Scotch and rye Has been the toll, since the em- oargo. And as we watch him reel we cry. "He must be rich, to have that cargo:" For we're but human, after all: There still must lurk the lackey in us: For riches we will always fall. And wealth has never failed to win us. Though soaks a few years back were scorned Throughout a righteous minded na tion. It ''y.0"-'1 b long till getting corned Will be an honored occupation. m w Plenty of Aspirants. The electoral college never needs to advertise. Read One or Two of Them. t-ome of the proposed platform planks are so thin that you couldn't even make good ouija boards out of them. We're StrletlT Neutral. Our best restaurants continue to serve Irish potatoes with English mutton chops. ro.yright 100 by the Bell Syndlcnts. Inc. In Other Days. Twenty-five Yearn Aco. From The Oreeonian. Slay 4. 195. Jackson, Miss. Governor Stone to day made public a letter from Presi dent Cleveland in which he declares that advocacy of free silver by the democratic party means an easy inarcli to victory for the republicans. London. It is reported here that the British government lias agreed to accept the guarantee of Nicaragua for the payment of 10.000 under the. guarantee of the United States and will withdraw its squadron from Nicaraguan waters. w ith butter at 12H cents per pound. eegs. 10 cents per dozen and flour $2.40 per barrel, there" arc few places where living should be cheaper than in Oregon. A move has been started bv Forest Grove and Hlllsboro men to build a motor line between the two towns. and eventually to extend to Portland. Freight traffic for farm products is the chief business they have in mind. Fifty Years Ago. Prom Th Orexonlan. May 4. 1S70. Washington. The senate passed a bill to make up deficiency of land grant in aid of the construction of a railroad from connection with the Central Pacific to Portland, Oregon. The republican county convention of Yamhill county, held day before yesterday, placed in nomination a full county and legislative ticket. There Is talk of operating the stages on the line between the lines in Ore gon and California In connection with the Oregon & California railroad as soon as it is completed to Dry Creek in the upper Sacramento valley. Tim bers for the bridges at Dry Creek and Butte Creek have been taken to the end of track, according to advices from Marysville. Plans are about completed .for 12 new stores, two stories in height, to be built at Pine, Front and First streets, by Dr. R. Glisan and Captain A. P. Ankeny. MOSES OF THE THIRSTY TRIBES Mr. Shillock's Candidacy Just Begin ning of TreW Across Desert. PORTLAND, May 3. (To the Edi tor.) In the leading editorial . Sun day, entitled "Everyone His Own Plat form," The Oregonian made reference to my candidacy for state senator and raised the question c what should ,1 do if elected on a wet platform, which I advocate, and stated that my posi tion Is "hopeless, yet rebellious." If elected. I do not expect to accom plish anything other than to give the people an 'opportunity to express their views upon the present prohibi tion laws, and if I am correct, they will so express themselves that two years from now the legislature will turn about face on this prohibition question. All big things start in a small way. The state and federal prohibition laws as existing toilay are bad. unfair and pernicious, to deprive an old man or woman, who is ready for the grave of a stimulant. It would be a more kind and humane act to take thera back of, the hills and shoot them. .My slogan, "Light wines and beer, whisky for medicine and not medicine for whisky." is not a hopeless and re bellious platform, and I assure you I am just as competent to help make good laws as any candidate in the field, and also just as poor ones. JOHN C. SH1L.LOCK. Why They Like Cuba. A speaker at a recent interchureh meeting was telling the audience about conditions in Cuba. "Do you know what American brewers are. doing?" he demanded. "They are shipping all the liquor they can to Havana. Why, within the past few weeks they have chartered so much cargo space that it would fill the entire Woolworth building from the lowest sub-basement to the 20th floor." The speaker gave the audience tims to gasp at the wickedness of the brewers, then he went on: "Yet Cuba has a great future. Only recently 88,000 Americans have asked for passports to Havana." Then he wondered why the audi ence interrupted by shouts of laughter. I.nw Not Vnlform. RAINIER. Or., Hay 2. (To the Edi tor.) On the editorial page of The Oregonian in answer to a question about swearing in un-registered voters on primary election day, you stated that a person could swear In his vote "on the attestation of six freeholders who are qualified voters." Beg to call your attention to chapter 225. section 5. 1915'laws, which pro vides that a person may register on election day upon the affidavit ot two freeholders, except that in coun ties of more than 10U.00O inhabitant six freeholders are necessary. FRED W. HERMAN.